crystal.

[byblow]

FORM: Crystal
SENDER: Alistair
RECIPIENT: All y'all
WHAT: Innocent and totally random question
WHEN: Now
NOTES: Threadjacking is cool, kiss kiss.

What's a reasonable amount of time to stay angry with someone?

[ There is a fairly obvious difference between Alistair's I have a serious question voice and I am trying to cause trouble voice, for those who know him, but in this case his tone falls somewhere between the two. ]

Obviously it depends on what they've done to make you angry, so let's talk about the full range. How long can I stay angry with someone for borrowing my sword without permission before I'm unreasonable?

Or what if they left everyone I cared about to die?

Just for discussion's sake.

Comments

[unbrokenoath]

Is this about me borrowing your sword, because I was gonna give it back, you don't gotta call me out like this.

[byblow]

That sword means a lot to me. [ He'll play along. Loghain can take his mentor but he can never take his sense of humooooor. Also: the sword is a little relevant. ] Maybe even enough to kill someone over.

[gatheringstorm]

Until the motherfucking end of time, for both.

...or just the latter one, I guess.

Sending crystal -- Private

[mactears]

[There's a moment when he considers shutting the damn thing off and stepping outside to go through some shield bash exercises. He decides against it; instead he sits at the rickety desk in his quarters with his elbows braced on the wood, his fist pressed to his mouth in thought.

He activates the crystal, but hesitates before speaking. The line is already open, he can't take that back; but the words he'd thought to share suddenly feel hollow and empty.]

[youwonscience]

Uh, are we talking about what's fair, or what's productive? Because there's probably no time limit on being angry, especially about the latter. No one's gonna blame you. But if you can get past it to some degree, it's physically better for you? Like, stress hormones associated with anger actually shorten your life expectancy in the long term.

As a wise woman from my world once said, "Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die." So.

[Of course Cosima is quoting Carrie Fisher. That's very helpful in this situation.]

[unbrokenoath]

Are you really sure you want to kill me? It won't bring the sword back.

And, like. It'd make Puppy sad, so there's that.

[ Emotionals are hard, thinly veiled allegories laced with jokes are the way to go. ]

[byblow]

I'd take the sword off your body and adopt Puppy as my own.

[byblow]

I knew I liked you.

[gatheringstorm]

People who fuck you over don't get a say in how you react to them. If you want to hold a grudge forever, it's your damn right.

private.

[byblow]

[ The crystals' limited functionality makes this all very confusing. There's no convenient writing displayed, YOU ARE CURRENTLY CONNECTED TO THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, that'd be nice, some mage should get on that—but in the absence of that innovation, there's only silence, and it takes Alistair a moment to realize it's because someone is being silent on the other end.

He still doesn't know who. He could guess, maybe, if he stopped to think about it, but he doesn't. He just says, ]

Did you have an opinion or is this your way of shutting me up?

[sunshinethroughgrey]

... Forever. You can be angry at those people forever if they are, say, an old Fereldan General who might or might not be in the city right now and who lead to the destruction of one's country, and village, and hundreds of innocent soldiers who trusted him.

[So. Much. Salt.]

[byblow]

[ So wise. So helpful. So, for reasons she can't possibly know, the wrong time for either. But he knows she can't know, so he doesn't snap. ]

What if I take that poison and pour it down the other person's throat? Does that— [ wait ] What's a hormone?

private

[mactears]

[This was a mistake, and the sensible thing to do would be to hang up before he sticks his foot in it. He doesn't.]

I won't offer you apologies, and don't expect your forgiveness, [he says, and yes, the words are still inadequate to the task at hand. Nevertheless, it feels necessary to say them.] I won't seek it either.

[youwonscience]

While on principle I'm not going to condone poisoning anyone anyway, I'll say there's an extremely mixed track record on revenge making the reveng-er feel less angry in the long term. But I don't know if anyone's actually done a study on it. [Probably not.]

Um.[She thinks a second about the question.] A hormone is a substance that your body releases in response to certain conditions that creates a bunch of different effects depending on what the hormone is and how long it's released. You know how you can run faster if you're really afraid or your heart beats harder when you're really angry? Hormones.

[She's gonna skip things like the thyroid gland for now, because she doesn't want to actually piss him off. Or anyone else who's listening and didn't sign up for a science lesson.]

[circleprodigy]

Not to mention allowed Tevinter magisters to enslave one's people.

[Icebergs have more warmth than her tone right now.]

[sunshinethroughgrey]

Oh, and let's not forget allowing a blood mage take over the Tower of Magi, killing off most of the Fereldan Circle and the Templars there. Some of which were children.

[faithlikeaseed]

[Myr hadn't been paying active attention to this conversation right up until somebody said "Tevinter" and then this. Maker's balls what.]

...Who is this bastard?

[pinprick]

[He's uncomfortable with coming to Loghain's defense, but...]
Ladies, that wasn't him. And...neither was that. The man who sold elves into slavery was Rendon Howe, who is dead, with his children punished. Regardless, Warden Loghain is your brother-in-arms and you will not incite violence against him, intentionally or accidentally. Take a moment to calm down.

[It's not an order, but he doesn't sound like he'll be argued with.]

[sunshinethroughgrey]

[Bethany's mouth is already open to argue - but that Tone. That's the Senior Warden Tone. So ... Bethany states simply, in a cooler words.]

...As you say, Senior Warden.

[onlyhymns]

Who, um... who are you talking about? [Cade only kind of knows about Ostagar, being from the Free Marches and dealing with the typical Kirkwall garbage at the time.

He's also in a bad place and has no reason not to make sure Alistair isn't talking about him. He has no idea why he would, but that's why it's scary.]

private

[pinprick]

Alistair, stop this. Trying to turn the whole of the Inquisition against one of your Wardens is unacceptable.

[byblow]

Kaisa. She stole my sword.

[ xoxo. ]

[onlyhymns]

Oh.

[His relief is tangible, even through a crystal.]

Did, um... she give it back?

private

[byblow]

Oh— [ flatly ] —it's you.

What can I do for you, then, Ser Loghain?

[byblow]

Not yet. She's a fiend.